Job hope for 45 rural teens

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Forty-five youngsters from impoverished rural backgrounds can now look forward to a bright future, courtesy a coffee chain and an NGO.

Pratham, an NGO working to improve education in villages, has tied up with Cafť Coffee Day to provide job opportunities to 45 teenagers, who have completed studies up to Class X or XI. Interviews would be held at Prathamís office in Ratu block on Monday and Tuesday.

The youths, hailing from Ranchi, Giridih and Deoghar districts, will be offered employment in various CCD outlets in the capital ó manning cash counters, taking orders and serving customers.

Speaking to The Telegraph, state head of Pratham Kumar Katyayani said all those selected have no recourse to funds to pursue higher studies. They also have to support their families, who otherwise depend on agriculture to earn a living. The youths will earn Rs 5,000 each.

The 45 selected for the first phase of the initiative have already undergone three monthsí training in soft skills to help them survive in the outside world.

After the first phase, the NGO aims to provide similar job opportunities to others in different retail chains, and the process would get underway in September.